Andy's 3g college pico

[Mariaface]

Right now, you should be alright. You won't want to introduce carbon or other filtration media (other than filter floss) until after the cycle, because anything that adsorbs decomposing organics is going to stop said organics from breaking down and forming ammonia for the bacteria to eat. On the other hand, if you notice ammonia getting unmanageably high (you should be able to keep it decently low with water changes, and if your live rock is pretty fresh it won't be a problem anyway) then you may need some carbon to pick up the slack so you don't stress out that hitchhiker you mentioned.

[andyl18]

You won't want to introduce carbon or other filtration media (other than filter floss) until after the cycle,

guess i should probably take out the little baggie of carbon that came with the filter....

[Dr.Brain Coral]

Cool tank Andy

If you are still interested in a Mantis shrimp there are lots that will fit in a tank this size, but the easiest to find would be Gonodactylus Viridis,

[andyl18]

Cool tank Andy

If you are still interested in a Mantis shrimp there are lots that will fit in a tank this size, but the easiest to find would be Gonodactylus Viridis,

Thanks! although the pest tank idea was a cool idea, i dont think ill go that route, probably going to go with CCLAXX's idea of a ricordea garden in the sand and some zoas on the rock

[andyl18]

so i went to top off the tank today. I have a bucket that i keep in my closet of about two gallons of water that i have already mixed and a powerhead in the bucket to keep the water circulating. when i took the lid off the bucket i noticed that the bucket smelled really bad. just wanted to see if the smell is normal?

[Mariaface]

so i went to top off the tank today. I have a bucket that i keep in my closet of about two gallons of water that i have already mixed and a powerhead in the bucket to keep the water circulating. when i took the lid off the bucket i noticed that the bucket smelled really bad. just wanted to see if the smell is normal?

 

Wait, wait, wait. When you say 'top off', do you mean for evaporation? Because you should be topping off with RO/DI water, not with mixed saltwater. Just wanted to clarify. Topping off with saltwater would be really, really bad.

 

Second: What salt are you using? You're mixing with RO/DI, right? You shouldn't get a really awful smell. Test for ammonia and see if there are contaminants to worry about. And you do want to use your refractometer to check that the salinity is correct before adding the water to your tank.

 

And if the smell isn't rotting, but more 'yuck, that smells like horrible plastic', you may want to make sure you're using a food grade bucket that's been rinsed out with RO/DI prior to use and hasn't been used for anything else before.

[kylhcky]

investing in a decent par30 bulb will go a long way. the stock jbj lights aren't very powerful, plus with led's you won't have to replace led's

like you would with compact florencets/t5/mh bulbs. with my jbj, my evaporation after 6-8 hours would swing my tank anywhere from .004-.008 ppm off of 1.026 ppm. those swings in salinity can be detramental to some coral and can crash a tank.

 

also, ive had many different snails and hermit crabs in my jbj. even with a bare bottom none of them have ever picked at my coral, and i don't feed the tank at all, my lights do all the work. every clean up crew is different though, that's just my experience with it.

[andyl18]

Wait, wait, wait. When you say 'top off', do you mean for evaporation? Because you should be topping off with RO/DI water, not with mixed saltwater. Just wanted to clarify. Topping off with saltwater would be really, really bad.

 

Second: What salt are you using? You're mixing with RO/DI, right? You shouldn't get a really awful smell. Test for ammonia and see if there are contaminants to worry about. And you do want to use your refractometer to check that the salinity is correct before adding the water to your tank.

 

And if the smell isn't rotting, but more 'yuck, that smells like horrible plastic', you may want to make sure you're using a food grade bucket that's been rinsed out with RO/DI prior to use and hasn't been used for anything else before.

oh.... lol oops. yeah i topped off because of evaporation with about a cup of mixed salt water today. i think the smell is from the fact that the bucket is closed. im going to dump out the water and just mix saltwater the night before a waterchange from now on. thanks for clarifying!!

 

investing in a decent par30 bulb will go a long way. the stock jbj lights aren't very powerful, plus with led's you won't have to replace led's

like you would with compact florencets/t5/mh bulbs. with my jbj, my evaporation after 6-8 hours would swing my tank anywhere from .004-.008 ppm off of 1.026 ppm. those swings in salinity can be detramental to some coral and can crash a tank.

 

also, ive had many different snails and hermit crabs in my jbj. even with a bare bottom none of them have ever picked at my coral, and i don't feed the tank at all, my lights do all the work. every clean up crew is different though, that's just my experience with it.

a lighting upgrade is next on my list, but since i just dropped a bunch of money starting this tank it'll probably be awhile before i convince myself to buy a new light system

[kylhcky]

look up dingusplease's jbj thread on here. he kept a lot of different things in his succusfully with 2 of the stock jbj lights over the tank. for $12 its worth getting two over the tank.

 

best of luck with the tank, ill be sure to stop in to see it's progress

[CCLAXX]

For toping off you use regular RO/DI water without salt. I believe you said you top off with saltwater

 

"....i topped off because of evaporation with about a cup of mixed salt water today."

 

Dont do this! This will increase the salinity as you are not only adding more water but salt with it. Just add whatever type of water you mix the salt with.

 

 

On another note, i still think you should upgrade your lighting in some form or another. I myself am a huge sps fan so I couldn't imagine my future tank without it so lighting is probably one of the most if not the most important aspect of the tank and the part which you should, in theory, spend the most money.

 

Will be watching( With a hint of jealousy),

Dylan

[MikeTR]

Ditch the stock light. Go with the DeepBlue SolarFlare 15w led. This will grow any of the easier LPS (hammers, frogspawn, candy cane) and some intermediates like acans & lobos. Will grow leathers, zoas, other softies.. check out my 7.5g that's lit with it.

 

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-lighting/deep-blue-solarflar-115-5x3w-clamp-on-led-light.html

[andyl18]

so when i've been topping off the tank, ive noticed a clear slimey looking substance when the water is being poured in. Could this be from poor surface circulation? ive been having trouble getting the powerhead positioned just right. And speaking of topping off, ive had to top off about a cup of water for the last two days which seemed a little fast for needing a top off so im investigating for a leak.

[kylhcky]

so when i've been topping off the tank, ive noticed a clear slimey looking substance when the water is being poured in. Could this be from poor surface circulation? ive been having trouble getting the powerhead positioned just right. And speaking of topping off, ive had to top off about a cup of water for the last two days which seemed a little fast for needing a top off so im investigating for a leak.

 

 

these tanks are notorious for evaporation, you many want to get a lid made or buy/build a auto top off system. as far as the film of slime goes, try angling the power head to the surface of the water to create some movement to help break it up so the filter can get at it. if it doesn't improve you want to look into upgrading the stock filter. i run a ac50 in mine and theres enough flow that i don't need any supplemental circulation.

[andyl18]

 

 

these tanks are notorious for evaporation, you many want to get a lid made or buy/build a auto top off system. as far as the film of slime goes, try angling the power head to the surface of the water to create some movement to help break it up so the filter can get at it. if it doesn't improve you want to look into upgrading the stock filter. i run a ac50 in mine and theres enough flow that i don't need any supplemental circulation.

As long as this is a normal amount of evaporation, I'm fine with topping off as needed. It just worried me that the water seems to have been evaporating faster the last few days than it was before. And I will definitely try angling the powerhead up

[Mariaface]

As long as this is a normal amount of evaporation, I'm fine with topping off as needed. It just worried me that the water seems to have been evaporating faster the last few days than it was before. And I will definitely try angling the powerhead up

 

Winter's pretty dry, and house heating makes things even dryer, so it makes sense that evaporation would go up. My reservoir has gone from 'refill once every week and four or five days' to 'refill every six days, please', so I'm really glad I have the ATO system to do topping off for me. I keep forgetting to top off my quarantine tank (it's only 5.5 gal) and a good 2-3mm of water will disappear in a day. Matter of fact, I'll go do that now. Really glad there's nothing in there but chaeto and a dwarf cerith right now. ...Also a metric ton of pods.

[andyl18]

So my cycle is pretty much over and I've been trying to decide on what to put in the tank. It's between a yellowtail damsel or a goby/shrimp pair. I know the gobys are jumpers but I was wondering if they still jumped even if they have a pistol shrimp buddy? That's really the only thing keeping me from getting the goby

[andyl18]

I just stocked my first fish and friends yesterday! I ended up going with the cutest little Bangaii Cardinal. He's pretty much been hiding behind the rock since I added him yesterday, but I took the powerhead out today because it looked like he was trying to fight the current just to stay still and that has caused him to be a bit more adventurous around the tank! I also added a sexy shrimp and two cerith's. The sexy has been parading around the rock since he was put in the tank, doing his dance and entertaining myself and my friends! Oh, and the darn cerith keeps trying to make a run for it out of the tank and i have to poke him back down

and the bangaii

[andyl18]

Finally got the gravity ATO up and securely attached to the wall(which is fairly difficult to do in a dorm room). I also added two more sexy's and the bangaii appears to have finally eaten(more like pecking at the mysis i offered him today).